Power-operated ham boiler



H. ADELMANN. POWER OPERATED HAM BOILERl APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1921.v

Pand Apn 11, 1922.

uNl'TEo'srATEs PATENT oFFlcE..

HANS ADELMANN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIG-NOR TO HAM BOILER CORP., OF NEWYORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK POWER-OPERATED HAM BOILER.

Spccication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

To aiZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HANS ADELMANN, a citizen of Germany, residing at NewYork city, borough of the Bronx, in the county of Bronx and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPower-Operated Ham Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the industry known as ham making and hasparticular reference to the construction and operation of a receptaclein which a ham after being made is placed for the purpose of cooking andsimultaneously shaping it.

Among the objects of this present improvement is to provide a ham boilerwith a cover adapted especially for power operation in the compressingof the ham, to which end the cover. is peculiarly constructed, adaptingit so as to withstand a considerable degree of pressure imposed thereonby a power press or its equivalent, and having as a component part ofthe cover a specially designed bolt mechanism for locking the cover indepressed position during the boiling operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking means for thecover of a ham boiler, so designed as to have positive engagement withthe body of the boiler and yet provide a suicient degree of flexibilitybetween the locking bolts and the cover to accommodate the swelling ofthe contents of the boiler incident to the cooking action, so as toretain within the ham practically all of its good avor and substance.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein,

prising a body 10 of any suitable design or construction with referenceto the shape desired for the finished ham, the form indicated beingsubstantially oval in plan view to be best adapted for the knuckle endof the ham, and so designed as to be substantially rectangular in allvertical planes, especially transversely, so that a cooked ham whensliced crosswise as usual Will produce slices that are practicallyrectangular. The ends 11 and 12 of the'body are extended preferablyupward above the level of the rim or edge 13 for co-operation with thecover 14 and the locking devices carried; thereby. lEach of these endsis provided with a vertical series of horizontal, holes 15, the tops ofwhich are inclined outward and downward, or at an acute angle to thehorizontal. It will be4 noted that the sides and ends of the body areessentially vertical.

T e cover 14; is preferably flat in its main portion so as to operateparallel to the bottom 16 of the body. It is, however, provided with adownwardly projecting flange or rim 17 serving not only as astrengthening means for the edge of the cover but also as a means tobetter confine the ham in place during compression and cooking. At aboutthe center of the top of the cover is formed a housing or pedestallS,preferably formed as an integral part of the cover and of a suitableshape to afford sufficient strength to withstand a considerable degreeof pressure that is designed to be applied to the cover by any suitablepower press for rapid and effective forcing of the cover downward forthe purpose of shaping the ham within the body.

This pedestal is thus provided with a flatl top against which thepressure may be applied, and from the corner portions of the pedestalextend stiifening ribs 19 toward the corner portions of the body. Theseribs are formed preferably as integral parts of the pedestal and coverand so afford the maximum degree of strength to prevent the bending orwarping of the cover under pressure.'

In the vertical longitudinal center of the pedestal is formed an openended slot 2O bounded at its top by the crown portion of the pedestaland at its bottom by the top surface of the cover and a guide or keeperprojection 21 formed at one side of the center of the bottom of thepedestal.

Between the pedestal and the ends of the cover and preferably in thesame vertical l longitudinal plane as the slot are provided loops orkeepers 22, preferably formed of sheet metal and attached to the uppersur-- face of the cover by any suitable means such as rivets`23 orequivalent fasteners. These loops or keepers are open ended and serve asretainers for a pair of reciprocating bolts s 24 and 25 co-operatingwith the right and left ends respectively of the body. The main portionsof these bolts are in longitudinal alignment, and each is provided withan engaging end 26 beveled ofi' at its upper side "atp27lforco-operation with the inclined "if upper' surface of a hole 15. Whilethe bolt ,'15 other, the other bolt is offset vertically at is shown asstraight from one end to' the its inner end so as to project over theinner end of thebolt 25, above which 1t is spaced .far enough toaccommodate a pinion 28 fixed upon la shaft29 journaled in the sidewalls ofthe lvpedestal and having on one end a handle 30 or itsequivalent for rocking the vrections and to the same extent.

shaft. T he overlapping inner ends of the l mit the bolt to tiltvertically as much as necessary in practice. The rack end of .the

bolt 25 is held inv engagement with the pinion by means of ythe guide21, but by placing this guidel mainly on the opposite side of the axisofthe shaft 29 from the bolt 25, the bolt is free to tilt downward inpractice. 4The bolts are held positively from lateral -xnovement withrespect to the cover, by reason of the pedestal and keepers 22, but thekeepers are materially higher inside than the vertical thickness of thebolts. At any .suitable points, preferably within the keepers 22, areprovided cushioning devices shown in the form of leaf springs 32, eachfastened at one end at 33 to the cover and loose at its other end andbeing normally bowed upward in the middle to normally hold or tend to.hold the bolt u ward against the top of the keeper, and a so to prevent1 any undesired degree of looseness of reciprocating movements of thebolt.

' ldll/'ith the handle 30 swung over to the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2 the points of the bolts will -be brought within thelength of the cover and sothe cover will be free to be lifted into orout of the top of the body. Assumin that the ham (and by this term hammean to cover any commodity that may be treated within the boiler) isintroduced intothe boiler in any well known manner, the cover will beplaced thereon and subjected to that degree of pressure necessary topress or shape the ham. The operator then swings the handle toward thefull line position causing the ends of the bolts to be projected intoany selected holes 15, the beveled ends 27 thereof liding easily alongand beneath the incliner? upper sides of the holes until the fiatsurfaces of the bolts come into contact with the upper edges of theholes. The springs 32 are made with considerable strength so that in thepreliminary' manipulation of the locking devices the bolts are heldthereby substantially against or close to the tops of the keepers, andso the locking devices have positive engagement with the rigid structureof the body. It being well understood, however, that during the cookingaction the tendency of the ham is to swell, provision is made to takecare of this increase in volume of the ham by the flexibility of thesprings, the strength of which, however, must not be so great as toprevent the swelling of the ham and the causing of the valuable andnutritious juicesto be expressed therefrom. During the swelling of theham the cover is forced relatively upward carrying with it the inner orrack ends of the bolts and so causing them to .tilt slightly towardtheir outer ends, since said ends are held down positively in place. Theinclined upper surfaces of the holes 15 consequently serve also to giveclearance for this tilting of the bolts without demanding that the holesbe made any larger than the cross section of the bolts. During thisupward movement of the cover the relative change of position between thekeeper and the bolts may be as indicated in Fig.I 3, the springs 32being fiat-tened according to the degree of pressure exerted upwardagainst the cover.

I claim:

1. The combination with a ham boiler body formed with verticallyarranged series of openings in opposite port-ions, of a cover movableinto and out of said body, and reciprocating locking members projectablebe-l yond opposite portions of the cover into selected openings of thebody.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which said openings of the bodyare holes formed therethrough horizontally.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the openings are formed asholes the walls of which have outwardly and downwardly inclined uppersurfaces. 4. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the lockingmembers consist of a pair of reciprocating bolts, the main portions ofwhich are in alignment while the inner portions thereof overlap, oneabove the other.

5. In a ham boiler the combination with a body having its end portionsextended above the main portion of the body and provided with verticalseries of horizontal pui holes, of a cover movable into and ont of thebody, said cover being provided at its center with an upwardlyprojecting rigid pedestal having a horizontal slottherein, and 1ockingmeans for the cover including a pair of reciprocating bolts co-operatingat their outer ends with selected holes of the bod)7 ends and beingdisposed one above the other at their inner ends in the pedestal slot.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which the locking means includes,in addition to the bolts, an actuating member therefor located betweenthe overlapping ends thereof and serving to cause simultaneous movementof the bolts in opposite directions.

7. A vdevice asset forth in claim 5 in whichlthe locking means includes,in addition to the bolts, longitudinal keepers embracing the alignedVportions of the bolts and within which there is provided relativevertical movement between the keepers and the bolts. v i

8. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which the locking means includes,in addition to the bolts, a pair of keepers for the bolts holding themfrom lateral movement but providing for Krelative vertical move-f mentbetween them and the cover, and

ture.

cushioning means acting betweeii thebolts and the cover tending to holdthe bolts projected upward therefrom resilientl Y 9. In a ham boiler,the combination' with a body having vertically arranged series of endholes, of a cover co-operating with the body and having at its center avertically extending pedestal having therein a vertical longitudinalslot in the same plane as the body holes, a pair of locking bolts havinrtheir inner ends arranged in the pedesta slot, one over the other saidends being provided wit-h rack teet a pinion journaled in the pedestalbetween the overlapping ends of the bolts and meshing constantly withsaid teeth, guide means serving to hold the rack endsof the bolts inengagement with the pinion permitting the bolts to tilt downwardrelatively toward the ends of the cover, and keepers embracing the boltsand serving to hold them from lateral movement.

,10. A device as set-forth in claim 9 including leaf spring cushionmeans within the keepers and acting upward against the bolts,substantially set forth. In testimony whereof I aix my signa- HANSDELMANN.

